Radioactive particulate waste, such as that generated during ultrasonic fuel cleaning of irradiated nuclear fuel assemblies, may be difficult and costly to dispose of The radioactive aspect of such particulate waste presents unique filtration cost considerations relative to more conventional filtration applications as a result of the various rules and regulations governing handling, shipment, and disposal of the spent or loaded filters. Often, the cost of filtration is dominated by the disposal cost of the contaminated filters. Accordingly, increasing the particulate holding capacity of each filter will tend to reduce the total filtration cost.
The particulate holding capacity of a membrane-type filter is dependent upon a number of factors including, for example, the available differential pressure across the media, the available area of filter media and the flow rate through the filter. Accordingly, the particulate holding capacity may be increased by using a variety of techniques including, for example, providing additional differential pressure, increasing the amount of media in the filter and/or by reducing the flow rate through the filter.